MICHIGAN AREA REPEATER COUNCIL NEWSLETTER
WEB SITE:
http://www.miarc.com e-mail:
mail@miarc.com
June 2005
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A short note from the Prez…… Our June meeting is being held at the Hudsonville Swap, where this
meeting is one of the best attended meetings we have during the course of the
year. In accordance with Article X, Paragraph A, Sub-Paragraph 1 of the MARC
By-Laws, we will be voting on a Band Plan change for the 900 MHz band. Currently it is in use under the D.O.G.
The propose motion is printed elsewhere in this newsletter. Members have
thirty days to send comments to PO Box 463148 Mt. Clemens, MI 48046. Any comments sent will be read at
the next meeting. Thanks to Phil W8IC, we are know caught up with the request for
one way links via of submitted TDS’s. Unfortunately, we still have a backlog
with 2 meter and 440 requests, but we are looking to resolve this backlog
soon. Please send your dues to Kelly Karpp direct to the Oscoda P.O.
Box. If you send it to the general mail P.O. Box in Mt. Clemens, this will
only delay the process. Remember, TDS’s are due yearly, but can go up to two years.
Please help keep your information current in our Data Base. We do have some
coordination’s that are three years in the red for not submitting a TDS. According to MARC Standards, If updates (from the system sponsor) are
not received a minimum of ONCE PER TWO YEARS, the (M.A.R.C.) Coordinator MAY
WITHDRAW THE COORDINATION AUTHORIZATION. About a year and a half ago MARC
de-coordinated about 30+ coordination’s. We are in the process of sending out
letters again. If you know someone who is behind, please let them know. Our annual meeting will be in Delta Twp. On September the 11th.
Election will take place for Vice-President, Treasurer, and a Director. Our
December meeting will be in the Saginaw, Bay City area. If you would like to
host this meeting please do get a hold of me to make arrangements. If anyone has any questions, you can reach the Board via of the
website, or my phone number is 586-465-7126. For those of making the meeting
on the March 6th, I’ll see you there. 73, Dennis, W8DFG President |
Database Managers Notes…….. If you are thinking about moving your repeater, contact us at mail@miarc.com and let us know your proposed
location and we will check to see if there are any problems associated with
co-channel or adjacent channel repeaters. Better to know in advance before
taking on the expense of a move only to find out your repeater cannot be
re-coordinated at the new location. Please take an extra minute or two to fill out your TDS forms
accurately and completely. If you need help with coordinates or elevation
above sea level, send me an email with the repeater address and nearest
intersection and I will look up the information on Microsoft Streets &
Trips and/or Topo USA 4.0 and get
back to you. There has been quite a bit of activity since the March Meeting.
You can find a summary of what has been going on at: http://www.miarc.com/info_faq/Activity_Report.html Follow the links for the 1st and 2nd Quarter 2005. Dave Johnson WD8DJB Treasurers Report March 05, 2005 Funds on hand: Savings: $3228.28 Checking: 683.69 Total
Funds: $3911.97 Income: Dues (12/04 – 03/05):
$225.00 Dividend Savings: 9.91 Dividend Checking: .24 Total Income
$235.15 Total Expenses:
0.00 Submitted by Kelly Karpp KB8RWG Treasurer |
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Minutes, March
Meeting Cadillac, MI Meeting
called to order by President Dennis Gaboury W8DFG at 1:00 PM. A Quorum was
present. Secretary Jeff Skurda N8XN was absent. Dan
Thompson N8WKM read the minutes from the December meeting. A motion was made
and seconded that the Minutes from the March meeting be approved as printed
in the Newsletter, motion passed. Kelly
Karpp KB8RWG read the treasurer’s report, a motion was made to accept the
report, seconded followed, no discussion, motion passed. New Business: Dan
N8WKM made a motion that the By-Laws be amended to
change the 900 MHz Band Plan. The reasons for the amendment is the Band Plan
in effect is under the D.O.G. and is due to expire in June. Seconded by Bruce
N8UT. A discussion followed. By-laws changes require
a notification prior to the vote, so no vote could
be taken at this meeting. The following is the motion
that was placed on the floor: Purpose: The
purpose of this section is to place a uniform and specific written
documentation concerning coordination and cooperation in the use of the 33cm
spectrum as allocated to the Amateur Radio by the FCC in accordance with the
statements made in Article I of the MARC By-Laws. Frequencies
Covered: 902.0000
MHz to 928.0000 MHz Overview
of Frequency Utilization: 902.0000
– 902.2875 SSTV, FAX, ACSSB, Experimental 902.2125
– 902.9875 FM Repeater inputs (25 MHz duplex split, 12.5 KHz spacing) 903.0000
– 903.0500 EME Exclusive 903.0700
– 903.0800 CW Beacons 903.1000
CW, SSB Calling Frequency 903.4000
– 903.6000 Cross Band Linear Translator Inputs 903.6000
– 903.8000 Cross Band Linear Translator Outputs 903.8000
– 904.0000 Experimental Beacons Exclusive 904.0000
– 906.0000 Digital Communications 906.0000
– 907.0000 Narrow Band FM Simplex (25 KHz Channels) 906.5000
National Calling Frequency 906.7000
– 910.0000 FM Repeater Inputs 5KHz modulation (12MHz split) 910.0000
– 912.0000 Narrowband Simplex Repeater Links 912.0000
– 916.0000 ATV 916.0000
– 918.0000 Digital Communications 918.0000
– 919.0000 Narrowband FM Control Links/Remote Bases 919.0000
– 922.0000 FM Repeater Outputs |
927.0125
– 927.9875 Auxiliary Simplex Link Frequencies 927.2125
– 927.4625 Auxiliary FM Duplex Link Input Frequency Pairs 927.4875
– 927.7250 FM Repeater Outputs (25 MHz duplex split, 12.5 KHz
spacing) 927.7375
– 927.7875 FM Voice Simplex Channels 922.0000
– 928.0000 Wideband Experimental ATV, Simplex, Spread Spectrum Guidelines: Repeaters: The
following is criteria to be met for the coordination of repeaters in the 33cm
band. Repeater frequencies must fit into the band plan as stated above.
Repeater owner/Trustee must comply with rules concerning TDS submission as
stated in the MARC By-Laws. Co-Channel Protection
Distance: No
repeater shall be given a protection distance of more than 50 miles without a
study clearly showing the need for such. This study can be done using methods
outlined elsewhere in this document. The
protection distance of a coordinated repeater may be less than 50 mile, but shall not exceed 50 miles without a
propagation study indicating the need for additional protection distance. Adjacent Channel
Protection: Repeaters
using adjacent channels shall have a minimum physical distance between
transmitters. This distance shall be determined by using half the distance
of the Protection Radius of the repeater with the largest protection
distance. Coverage Prediction Study: Coverage
prediction shall be done in one of three ways. 1: Accept the minimum protection radius as
the maximum coverage area. 2: True coverage area study done with
calibrated test equipment. 3: Approved software designed to provide
coverage modeling. Coverage
area is to be defined as an average distance of coverage from the repeater
transmitter based on a signal of at least –110 dBm in 75% of locations75% of
the time. This translate roughly to a signal that is useable by an average
user listening to a voice repeater in a mobile situation with a radio of
average receive capability (roughly 0.3 microvolts). Other New Business: Dave WD8DJB asked for approval of a
back-up hard drive. Dan N8WKM made a motion , seconded by Ron W8YUC,
discussion followed, motion passed. |
|
Other new business continued: It was brought up on the floor concerning
a problem with slow reimbursement to Dan for the printing of the newsletter.
Walt WD8RCH made a motion, seconded by Ron W8YUC, that we get a Debit Card for Dan to use. Discussion followed,
motion passed. Mark AB8MS brought up a co-channel
problem between Grand Rapids and Chicago, discussion followed. It was
suggested that they compile documentation before any action was taken. The June meeting is to be held in
Hudsonville at the IRA Hamfest on the June 4th. With no further business to conduct a
motion was made by Ron W8YUC, seconded by Walt WD8RCH to adjourn the meeting
at 1:55 PM, motion passed. Minutes taken by R. Bruce Winchell,
Vice-President/Coordinator Typed by Dennis Gaboury, President
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Editors
Note: The
June meeting has traditionally become the largest
MARC meeting of the year. There are several reasons
for this, but this meeting takes place on a
Saturday and has been hosted by the IRA at the hamfest. The
IRA puts on a very nice hamfest with activities on
Friday evening as well as the hamfest on Saturday. This
becomes an advantage to all involved and we hope
that this meeting is well attended. There
are several important issues that will be open
for discussion at this meeting and this is a good
chance for your voice to be heard. |
MARC Board of
Directors
|
President |
Dennis Gaboury |
W8DFG |
P.O.
Box 463148 Mt.
Clemens, MI 48046 |
|
Vice
President |
R. Bruce Winchell |
N8UT |
5354
Baker Rd |
|
Secretary |
Jeff Skurda |
N8XN |
5130
W Tothill Cir |
|
Treasurer |
Kelly F. Karpp |
KB8RWG |
PO
Box 127 Oscoda,
MI 48750 |
|
Director |
Walt Van Gorp
|
WD8RCH |
Not
yet available |
|
Director |
Ron Gordon |
W8YUC |
7172
Sharp Rd. Swartz
Creek, MI 48473 |
|
Frequency
Coordinator 902
Up |
Dan Thompson |
N8WKM |
1844
126TH Ave Hopkins,
MI 49328 |
|
Frequency
Coordinator 440
Down |
Kelly F. Karpp |
KB8RWG |
PO
Box 127 Oscoda,
MI 48750 |
|
Database
Manager |
Dave Johnson |
WD8DJB |
2266
E. Vermontville Hwy Charlotte,
MI 48813 |
|
Newsletter
Editor |
Dan Thompson |
N8WKM |
1844
126TH Ave Hopkins,
MI 49328 |
The Next meeting is Saturday June 4, 2004 at
1pm.
Meeting Location:
Location: I.R.A.
Hamfest
More information on the hamfest can be found at:
Hudsonville Fairgrounds http://www.w8hvg.org
Hudsonville, MI
Directions: Follow I-196 (The Ford Freeway) (do not
confuse this with I-96) to exit 62 (32nd Ave).
Go
North on 32nd Ave to New Holland Street. Follow New Holland ½ mile
to 36th Ave.
Turn North on 36th and continue
past Chicago Drive and the Railroad Tracks to Grant St.
Turn Left (West) on to Grant street to Park
Avenue. Go South (right) on Park to Fairgrounds
Entrance. Talk in will be available on 147.160 Repeater.